AVERSA, Diocese of. - In the province of Naples, immediately subject to the Holy See. It has 63 parishes; 251 diocesan priests and 46 regulars. The diocese has an area of 361 sq km and an entirely Catholic population of 187,500 inhabitants (1948). The Cathedral is dedicated to St. Paul.

The city (Adversa) arose in the time of the Normans, to whom the emperor Henry II had donated a piece of territory near the ruins of Atella, in 1022. Their leader, Rainulf, was named count of A. by the duke of Naples, Sergius V (1029); in 1038 the latter received from Conrad II the solemn investiture. The city followed the fortunes of its Counts, and when the last of these was defeated it was sacked and destroyed. It then passed into the hands of the Swabians, of the Angevins, and was again sacked, destroyed and rebuilt (1282). In 1601 it formed part of the principality of Capua and thereafter became a fief of the Holy See.

AVERSA - Madonna with Child and Angels, by Angelillo Arguccio (1468) - Cathedral.(phot. Gab. Fet. Nas)

After violent conflicts between the Holy See and the Normans, Leo IX, who was also under the threat of the spreading Greek schism, acceded to the request of Richard I, count of A., and elevated the city to a bishopric, making it the heir of Atella and of Cuma, apparently around 1053. The first bishop whose name is known is Azzolino (1056). The beautiful cathedral, in Norman style, begun by Richard I (1053) and completed by his son Jordan, was almost destroyed by the earthquake of 1456; it was rebuilt on a design by C. Beratti at the expense of card. Innico Caracciolo at the beginning of the 18th century; it retains the Latin-cross plan, with three naves divided by pillars, and preserves around the high altar the original seven-bay ambulatory with groin vaults. A. has, besides the Cathedral, many beautiful churches, among them: S. Lorenzo, the Annunziata, S. Domenico, founded by Charles II in 1218 and then dedicated to St. Louis, king of France. Abbeys and monasteries: S. Lorenzo, S. Pietro, S. Angelo, S. Agata, S. Maria d'A. (of the Benedictine Congregation of Monte Vergine), S. Maria di Casaluce.

Bibliography9 works

BIBL.: Ughelli, I, coll. 485-95; G. Parente, Cenno storico sulla cattedrale di A., Naples 1845; id., Origini e vicende ecclesiastiche della città di A., 2 vols., ibid. 1857-58; Cappelletti, p. 434 ff.; L. Cirelli, La badia benedettina di S. Lorenzo di A., Aversa 1890; A. Groner, Die Diözesen Italiens von der Mitte des 10. bis zum Ende des 12. Jahrhunderts, Tübingen 1904, p. 37 f.; F. Chalandon, Histoire de la domination normande en Italie et en Sicile, 2 vols., Paris 1907; Eubel, s. v., I-III.; A. Gallo, Codice diplomatico normanno di A., in Monumenti della Società napoletana di Storia Patria, I, Naples 1927.

Noemi Crosorosa Scipioni

@incollection{ec2_aversa_diocesi_di, author = {Crostarosa, Scipioni Noemi}, title = {Aversa, diocesi di}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {II}, pages = {530--532}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1949}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/aversa-diocesi-di} }

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Aversa, Diocese of

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